While there are a variety of approaches to studying and teaching Africana Studies nationally and internationally, such methods have not yet been sufficiently examined by scholars and students of the discipline. Yet, there are many opportunities to discuss these approaches since institutions of higher education in the state of Ohio (and also in the rest of the United States) mirror the diversity of Africana Studies. The Department of Pan- African Studies at Kent State University invite papers for a symposium that will illustrate the various ways in which scholars in the state of Ohio are addressing the diversity within Africana Studies in their teaching, writing, and other activities. We are particularly interested in papers and/or panels from scholars and students (graduate and undergraduate and graduate) that examine important issues about slavery, colonialism and African identities in the Atlantic World.

The contributors are encouraged to explore the conference theme through various disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches that touch on questions such as: What are the historical legacies of being black in the Atlantic World? What does it mean to be a person of African descent in the 21st century? How have processes and dynamics of racialization and gendering of black subjects materialized and been contested in the Atlantic world? What are the historical legacies of being black? Other possible topics include:

-Theory and Africana Studies -Approaches to Africana Studies -The humanities and Africana Studies -Social Sciences and Africana Studies -The future of Africana Studies -Public Policy and Africana Studies -The role of arts in the development of Africana Studies -Geography and identity -Gender, sexuality, and the black body -Diasporic economics and labor markets -Migration and identities of modern immigrants -Redefinition of the African American identity -Culture, representation and performance, -Obama Phenomena -Jobs for Africana graduates

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION: Please submit a working title and a brief abstract of 250 words, an abbreviated CV (1 page), your full name, institutional affiliation, phone number, and e-mail address. The due date is December 1, 2011. Please send all materials electronically to:agooden@kent.edu or by mail to Dr. Amoaba Gooden, Department of Pan-African Studies, Kent State University, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, Ohio, USA, 44240.